Chicken? Why, yes of course!
Michelle Phetlhe | Tuesday February 22, 2022 06:00
With so much uncertainty and radical increases in prices of everything, many Batswana finally took heed of what has always been encouraged, backyard farming, and did so in small scale and even larger in order to make ends meet. Other markets that boomed locally are (poultry) chicken and chicken eggs farming.
I remember a time where there was an outcry and almost revolt regarding supermarket sold chicken. This was an opportunity for many who started chicken farms. Tswana chicken, broilers and 3ggs were a call away, good quality at a good price. Before getting into selling broilers just a few months ago, I was initially introduced to them two years ago by a friend who was selling them. I found the chickens to be big in size, meaty and tasty. There are a lot of controversial stories on how people get their chicken pieces to be big.
With these it was obvious that they were naturally nurtured to reach a large size in a short period of time whilst maintaining the quality of meat. Broiler chickens are chickens raised/reared strictly for meat. On farms, they're usually slaughtered when they're just six-seven-weeks-old, which makes for good business, a highly consumed meat which can be readily supplied. In villages in Botswana, poultry keeping is a side-line occupation because of the dominance of the beef cattle industry in the society.
However, as poultry production can be increased more rapidly than that of other farm animals, it offers an opportunity for rapid growth in a developing country demanding a higher standard of human nutrition. In Botswana, chicken has only limited religious connotations and is therefore, widely accepted as food for the human population. Broiler production is a good alternative for small-holders which can help to alleviate poverty and generate income for the families, this is no longer stigmatised to villages only. Broilers can be fried, roasted or cooked on the stove top in stews. One can generally use these methods interchangeably based on how much meat you think you'll need for the meal you prepare. They are young chickens raised only for their meat, so they are fine to use for any preparation.
To be honest with you, I have only ever roasted it. The sheer size of the chicken makes me feel like it should be served as a roast; like Turkey on Thanksgiving style. Roast chicken is also a very time saving meal to prepare. Your sides can be anything from rice, Natures Garden Fries or a great salad to suit the mealtime. Without a doubt there will always be leftovers, which are useful for breakfast, lunchbox sandwiches and more. It just needs a little creativity to have the kids not to give cries of ‘we ate this yesterday’!! I win them over with chicken mayo toasties every single time.
Ingredients
Full Chicken Salt to taste Pepper to taste
1 Tbls Brown sugar
2 Tbls Herbs of choice Drizzle Willow Creek Olive Oil
2 Tsp All Joy Soy Sauce
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Pat the chicken with a paper towel.
3. Sprinkle dry rub of salt, black pepper, sugar and your choice of herbs over the whole chicken
4. Mix Olive Oil and Soy sause before drizzling over them and rub well.
5. Place in a baking pan 6. Cook for 45min-1hr